James's Weblog
Exodus the foundation for the whole Bible
Wed, 06/01/2010 - 13:17 — JamesAlex Motyer is not exaggerating when he describes how important the book of Exodus is in the unfolding story of the whole Bible:
“The point of all this is to underline the importance of Exodus in the Bible. It is as significant a turning point or new beginning as is Matthew at the start of the New Testament. To go no further than recall its revelation of the divine name or its story of the blood of the lamb is at once to give it the same place in the Old Testament that the coming of Jesus and the cross of Calvary hold in the New. It begins the normative Old Testament (and biblical) revelation of God's way of salvation; it underlines the nature of God as holy and of humankind as sinners; it explains the meaning of blood and sacrifice; it is a book of the grace which reaches down from heaven and of the law which teaches redeemed sinners to live in heavenly terms. While some of these great biblical truths are foreshadowed in Genesis, Exodus pulls them all together, giving them a shape and definition that the rest of the Bible will not alter. Under the simplest of forms, and by many a fascinating story, Exodus reveals fundamental truth and is, in fact, one of the Bible's great building blocks.” (page 23)
To understand the ban in Joshua, read Genesis.
Wed, 06/01/2010 - 11:40 — JamesAlec Motyer wrote this very helpful paragraph in his commentary on Exodus.
… read more »Exodus 1:1-7:7
Mon, 04/01/2010 - 12:41 — JamesRe-reading Exodus 1:1-7:7 a few times in preparation for next Sunday's sermon, I have been struck again by just how well-crafted the book of Exodus is.
Here are a handful of details that I observed in those chapters, that are reproduced here in the hope that they might intrigue a few people to read the book of Exodus again. What, I think, we need is to read the whole book (because it functions and speaks to us as a whole), but to combine that with close attention to the details.
… read more »James 2: Faith and Works
Mon, 04/01/2010 - 10:56 — JamesA few quotations from Douglas Moo's Commentary on the book of James to fill in a bit more background to the material we looked at during Kemsing's Useful! service on the second half of James 2.
… read more »Fabulous: On Ilkla Moor baht 'at?!
Tue, 15/12/2009 - 10:15 — JamesI have once had the fortune to take part in a carol service where While Shepherds Watched was sung to the tune of On Ilkla Moor baht 'at. It was a slight novelty: "Did you know that these words can be made to fit to this tune? What fun - let's do it!"
… read more »Rejoice in the Lord always
Sun, 13/12/2009 - 17:49 — JamesWhy not join me in being built up by reading Peter Leithart's exhortation on Paul's instruction to rejoice in the Lord always. Always? Yes - always. …
Myth-busting: Shepherds as despised ones?
Sat, 12/12/2009 - 11:49 — James“The shepherds are often characterised as representing the ‘downtrodden and despised’ of society, so that the first proclamation of the gospel is said to have come to sinners. … There are two problems with reading the shepherds as symbols of the hated. First the rabbinic evidence is late, coming from the fifth century. More importantly, shepherd motifs in the Bible are mostly positive. … Thus, the presence of the shepherds is not a negative point. Rather, they picture the lowly and humble who respond to God’s message.” (page 214)
Caird on Luke's birth narrative
Fri, 11/12/2009 - 11:27 — JamesG B Caird is helpful, as ever, in his comments on Luke's account of the birth of Jesus:
… read more »Praying in Public
Wed, 09/12/2009 - 11:00 — JamesIt is a joy to discover Sam Allberry has a blog. He has a particularly excellent post on there with some very important reminders for those of us who lead public prayer in church. Check them out at: http://allberry.blogspot.com/2009/09/public-prayer.html
Hymn tunes and meters
Mon, 07/12/2009 - 09:59 — JamesI recently received an e-mail asking about how you work out what the "meter" for a hymn is, and how you go about finding a tune that fits the words of a particular hymn.
In case my reply helps anybody else, here's what I said:
… read more »
